FL MORRIS / FMORRIS@STARBULLETIN.COM
The holiday gingerbread villages are 100 percent edible (except for
the tablecloths), although they'd be pure sweetness. Trims are made
of marzipan; santas from molded chocolate. Set pieces such as Tobie
Cancino's soldier, left, are made of pastiage (cornstarch, powdered
sugar and gelatin).

Sweet streets

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By Betty Shimabukuro
bshimabukuro@starbulletin.com

The gingerbread man doesn't like this wet weather. It's bad for his complexion -- makes it all squishy. And those poor contractors working on his house ... humidity is bad for their walls.

Culinary students at Kapiolani and Leeward community colleges are under the gun, building gingerbread villages for the homes of the University of Hawaii president and the governor, not to mention the KCC dining hall AND they're making all the pieces to be used at Sunday's sold out Easter Seals Gingerbread Festival.

FL MORRIS / FMORRIS@STARBULLETIN.COM
A train made of sugar and gelatin was created by a pastry
arts student three years ago and has been protected in a
display case since.

Plus, it's raining. Wet air makes gingerbread harder to handle, but Ernest Hiltbrand, chef-instructor in the pastry arts at the Culinary Institute of the Pacific, insists that the creations have no artificial supports. "Just to put a chimney up is a challenge. You are not allowed to use any toothpicks or anything. It's all held together with chocolate and icing."

Hiltbrand says he's been asked to erect German-style gingerbread displays all over the world. "At Christmas, people all over seem to have the same feeling. Even in Pago Pago ... we were building gingerbread villages."

Hiltbrand calls his elaborate displays showmanship. "In the pastry arts, if you have a little imagination you can do almost anything."

FL MORRIS / FMORRIS@STARBULLETIN.COM
Shane Masutani and Stephanie Higa put finishing touches
on a gingerbread house.

He has these suggestions for house-building on an amateur scale in this humidity: Just after baking, brush hot gingerbread with a thin icing (1/3 to 1/2 cup water to 1 pound powdered sugar). Dip support beams in chocolate to further protect them.

For those less ambitious, his recipe's good for cookies, too. See Page D-6.

Don't want to bake at all? KCC is holding a bake sale, noon Dec. 7. Cakes, pies, cookies and more will be sold at the Ohelo dining hall.

Or, watch for free as teams battle in the Easter Seals gingerbread competition, 4 to 6 p.m. Sunday at Blaisdell Exhibition Hall.

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